Anisul Islam Noor :
The government has been earning excessive profit from petroleum since the sale price is much higher than the purchasing cost.
Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) earned a profit of about Tk 3,454.73 crore till April 22 this year, according to the economic review. But BPC has a loan of over Tk 30,000 crore of which Tk 26,000 crore
was borrowed from the government.
The Ministry of Finance said, BPC has been earning profit, but there is no possibility of adjusting the oil price right now. The profit amount will, however, be spent in the development sector on the priority basis.
The experts said, it is necessary to adjust the oil price in order to bring a stable growth in the country’s overall economy. The price of most of the products increased due to rise in the oil price, which has later become a burden for some small scale industries, said Mirza Azizul Islam, former Finance Adviser of the caretaker government.
The BPC is making profit by Tk 40 in octane and petrol and Tk 20 in diesel and kerosene. The government raised Tk five to seven per litre in all kinds of oils on January 4 in 2013 for the last time.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said, the government is thinking of adjusting the oil price, but the point is how many people will get its benefits? First of all, priority is to be fixed. He did not hint any timeline to adjust the oil price.
Recently the International Energy Agency (IEA) published a report which showed Bangladesh and Ivory Coast are jointly the world’s third highest oil- price country behind Congo and Senegal.
